Phantom of the Night
by Fading Ashes
Summary: Draco has always felt a pull to her. Tonight, he's on prefect duty patrol. A haunting melody played with a violin lures him to the violinist...to the one and only... Hermione Granger. HGDM Review please!


**Disclaimer: Sadly, I do not and never will own any of the Harry Potter characters. **

Draco Lucius Malfoy ran his hand through his blonde hair for the umpteenth time, sighing with frustration. He was waiting for the gossip queen, Parvati Patil, aka the prefect to arrive. How she had been chosen to be a prefect, he did not know, nor did he care.

"That's it." He muttered, striding across the halls, "I'm not waiting for that bloody cow anymore."

While patrolling, he came across a second year Hufflepuff sleeping on the floor. Therefore, he deducted ten points. After sending the Hufflepuff a glare, he watched with satisfaction as the poor boy scampered away with fear.

He froze. His eyes widening, and a _sickening_ smirk settled on his face. As he listened, he heard it again. A grunt. Wait, scratch that. _Two _grunts. He tiptoed to the door, following the echoes of the grunts and moans. He pressed his ear against the rough surface. He blanched; inhuman sounds were coming from the room. He whipped out his wand.

_Alohomora. _

He took a peek into the slightly opened door…

"Harder, Ernie!" Hannah Abbott's voice came out in a moan. Draco paled and felt bile rising to his throat, with a quick swallow, it settled back into his stomach.

"Oh, Hannah! You feel so-!"

Draco shoved open the door and leaped inside with his hand over his eyes. Merlin, he did NOT want to see the two naked couples.

"That's it!" he yelled, "No more shagging!" Draco stomped around the room with his eyes still closed; he accidently bumped into the wall and sat down hard on his bum. So much for being dignified.

"Twenty points each from Hufflepuff!" Without waiting for them to leave, he ran for the door. Well, he _thought_ it was the right direction. But with his eyes closed, he bumped into the wall, again.

"Mother fuc-!" he opened his eyes and ran for the door, which was _way _across the room. He didn't stop running until he reached third floor. The noise that had emitted from the couples still haunted his mind; he was going to have nightmares for sure. He would have to stop being a man-whore. Well maybe not forever, but until he forgets the unfortunate run-in with the shag fest.

He froze again. Hoping what he heard wasn't another couple busy doing-_ahem._ But the sound continued, and with a jolt, Draco realized that it was a song. A haunting melody rippled across the air, echoing off the walls. The song was soft as silk and delicate as rose petals.

Draco, transfixed, let his feet lead him to the sound source. He stopped in front of the Room of Requirement. He wondered if the song was done with magic, but even magic couldn't transfigure a song so well. Especially when the song was played with a violin. Draco shook his head, jolting him out of his reverie. He closed his hand around the doorknob and pushed open the door, he was ready to punish the person who was still out after curfew. But he was certainly not ready for _this._

The room was dark, but a shaft of moonlight shone through the window. Pale light illuminated the room, reflecting off a piano which was on the centre of the room.

The violinist stood beside the piano. Her fingers darting back and forth on the violin strings, the bow flitting and sliding on the strings. She stood, tall and proud. Shoulders square and back straight. She was wearing Gryffindor robes and her wavy brown hair cascaded down her back. She had pale creamy skin, and on her arm, a scar traced its way upon her skin. There were words on her arms, and then Draco realized that they were scars.

The melody died down, and with a quite note, the song finished. The violinist turned slowly around and met Draco's eyes. Grey clashed with hazel.

Hermione Jean Granger placed her violin on the piano and tilted her head. Her long mane of brown silk pooling around her shoulders, Draco still found it hard to believe that her once bushy bird nest had matured into brown curtains of silk.

"I guess I forgot to cast a silencing charm."

Draco guarded his eyes, not wanting her to see his emotions. He stared straight into her eyes and nodded.

"Why are you here?" he drawled, "It's after curfew already, you should be snuggling with the rest of the Gryffindorks." He strolled to the piano and sat on the soft seat. Raising his head, he looked at Hermione. She looked fairly surprised, her owlish eyes widening softly.

"You shouldn't be near me." She murmured, "You'll catch my _Mudblood-,_" She spat the word out like venom, "-germs."

Draco flinched, shame flooding through him. Why couldn't people see that he had changed, that he was just a boy who was forced to become a Death Eater in order to please his father and Ol' Voldy Moldy? Now was the chance to prove it.

"There's no such thing as blood purity." He whispered, "People are all the same, muggleborns, purebloods, half-bloods…They're all the same."

Hermione looked shocked, her hands clenched into fists. Her eyes, which he discovered, had flecks of gold inside the chocolate brown pools, widened even more.

"Who are you, and what did you do to Draco Lucius Malfoy?" She asked him in disbelief.

"I'm the only one." He replied, now standing up. He observed her; it was useless denying that she's a beautiful girl. It was obvious, but to her, she was completely oblivious to the attention she was getting from the boys. Her features were pale and delicate, her lips soft like rose petals, she wasn't very tall, but the way she held herself reminded him of a queen.

He smirked when she squirmed under his gaze, uncomfortable. He had a silly crush on her in freshman year, then as years passed by, it gradually grew into love. She was much more different than the usual girls. The usual girls sickened him, always swooning and giggling, flirting with him. But he couldn't blame them, because he _is_ the Slytherin Sex God. But in Hermione's view, he was the Slytherin albino ferret God. There was…_something _in Hermione that attracted him to her. Yes, she's beautiful. Yes, she's smart. His father used to tell him how dirty muggleborns are, he used to believe him. Until a certain brunette came and shattered all his beliefs. When she was being tortured by Bellatrix in his manor, he had to restrain himself from _Avada'_ing his psycho aunt. She was torturing the girl he loved, and seeing her blood on the floor, it looked as pure as a pureblood's. All the bullshit about muggleborns was false. Their blood is not a bit dirty; they are no vermin, no such thing as _Mudblood _germs. He tried to hurt her feelings, he was angry at her for making him feel that way about her. He wanted to mask his feeling from her. He was angry at himself for allowing his feelings to wander astray.

"Earth to Malfoy." Hermione snapped her fingers, he surfaced to reality.

"Do you think I'm evil?" The words slipped out of his lips, and he, embarrassed, found a sudden interest on his leather shoes.

"No… not at all."

He snapped his head up so fast he almost got whiplash. "R-really?"

"Really." Hermione was surprised at the tone of her voice. So calm and promising. True, she used to hate Malfoy a lot; she was hurt by the way he insulted her and her friends. Hurt by the way he taunted and scorned her. So she had made a promise to herself. She wouldn't let Malfoy feel satisfaction for hurting her; she would let him know that whatever insult he threw at her, she would be strong. She would prove him wrong, shatter his beliefs. Despite hating him, the other side of her began to like him. She didn't know why, maybe it was Merlin's doing or a love potion, but she fell in love with him. He stood out from others, not just his good looks. He could always hide his feelings so well most of the times, and she admired him for that. He had a strong personality, yes; she's quite at awe about that, too.

"Granger?"

She shook her head, getting rid of her thoughts. "Yeah?"

"Can you play a song again?"

Not trusting her voice, she gave a mere nod. She retrieved the violin from the piano and placed it on her collar bone, tucked under her chin. With closed eyes, she began to play.

Draco, in awe, stared at her. The melody flowed from the violin, bouncing softly off the wall.

_Silencio. _He gave a flick of his wand.

He didn't want other people to follow the sound source and find them here. Her melody continued, gradually becoming louder and faster, before slowing down and becoming quieter. Her long and elegant fingers danced on the strings. Draco faced the piano, placed his fingers on the keys, and began to play a duet with Hermione. Apparently, he knew the song, too. Hermione briefly paused in her surprise, but quickly resumed playing again. Their melody showed their true emotions, rocketing higher and higher, and then diving down into a slow and hushing note. With a single low note, the song finished.

"I didn't know you could play violin so well." Draco said. Hermione blushed faintly, flattered by his praise.

"Well, you're pretty good yourself playing the piano." Hermione shrugged. They remained silent, listening to the whistle of wind, the rustle of curtains. _The rustle of curtains?_ The window isn't even open!

"There's someone behind the curtains." He hissed to Hermione before aiming his wand. Hermione chuckled and looked at him with amusement.

She threw a lazy gaze at the curtains and whistled. A sharp sound that pierced the silence of the room. First, nothing happened. Then, a blur of orange flashed towards them and settled on Hermione's foot. He stared, startled, as the orange tabby purred at Hermione.

"This is Crookshanks, Malfoy." She pointed at her faithful companion. "And this is Malfoy, Crookshanks." The cat mewled in response.

"Granger, you could have chosen a cat with better looks than this orange furball." He drawled, scoffing at Crookshanks. To his shock, the cat fluffed out his fur, making him look twice his size. The offended feline arched his back and bristled, his amber eyes narrowed dangerously. He unsheathed his claws and lashed his tail.

Draco widened his eyes in fear; his hand instantly went to his hair. If the feline was to attack, he would make sure that he would not claw off his platinum, beautiful, handsome, _sexy_ hair.

"Now, now Crooks." Hermione stroked the cat's head. The cat's fur slickened; he began purring, claws sheathed. Hermione pointedly glared at Draco, who raised his hands in surrender. "You shouldn't insult him, he's quite sensitive about _err…_ his looks."

Draco forced himself to calm down. _Inhale exhale inhale exhale inhale exhale…_

"Granger, do not let the cat come close to me, if he touches one hair on me, he will have to say _bye-bye_ to his crunchy snacks."

Hermione rolled her eyes, and knelt down to let Crookshanks crawl on her shoulders and curl around her neck.

"Granger?"

She looked up to meet his mercurial orbs, tilting her head in confusion.

"Teach me to play violin."

She stared into his eyes, trying to find traces of lies, but she found none. "Are you freaking serious?"

"Never been more." he snapped, "Maybe except the tine when I demanded dear ol' daddy to give me back my candi-."

"Okay."

He stared at her, and a triumphant smirk flitted on his face.

Hermione gave him her violin. He was surprised to find it so light; he had always thought violins were heavy.

"Malfoy, stop zoning out." She scolded lightly, "You hold the violin with your left hand, yes…the bow with your right hand … _no _the bow is not edible so stop chewing on it _thank you_…"

"Like this?" he pressed the bow to the string and moved it upwards. An earsplitting screech made their ears rattle, they both winced and Hermione rubbed her ears.

"No Malfoy, press softly but firmly, _no_ you put your fingers in the wrong place, you're supposed to put your fingers he-." Her voice trailed off, and she stared, wide eyed, at her fingers which were now touching Draco's.

Electricity ran from her fingertips, tingling to her arms, to her stomach, her chest, then to her heart. She leaped back and raised her fingers and stared at them.

"I'm sorry!" she gushed out, cheeks flared with embarrassment. "I'm sorry! I didn't mea-!"

Draco placed his finger on her lips, and murmured, "Its ok." He took his finger away and looked into her hazel orbs. "I don't mind."

Hermione nodded meekly, "It's really late now…" She made a move for the door, "I think I'll be goi-." Draco locked his hand on her wrist, when she looked at him, shocked; he drew in a shaky breath.

"Granger…H-Her-Hermione Damnit!" He blurted out, "I-I don't know why…but I uh I…I think I'minlovewithyou!"

Hermione inclined her head, confused. "Um, can you repeat the last sentence again?"

Draco gasped for oxygen, his cheeks the envy of Professor Sprout's tomatoes. "Damnit…you bloody witch!" he gushed out, "I said…I-I think I'm in love with you!"

_SILENCE_

Somehow, for them, silence was the loudest and most uncomfortable. Draco let go of her hand and stared at anything but her, embarrassed at his confession. _Bad Draco, couldn't even control your own emotions, you just had to blurt it out that you were soooooo in love with h-_

"Is this a sick joke?" Hermione's sharp tone jolted him from his thoughts. "Is this a dare from someone? Is this a bloody sick joke? Are you just doing it to humiliate me?"

Her snarl raised into a yell. "You very well know that it's impossible for any boys to fall in love with me! I'm too ugly! Nothing special! I'm smart! So what?! I have nothing special in me! I'm just ordinary! I'm not-_oomph."_

Draco, angered at her ranting and accusations grabbed the back of her head and crashed his lips to hers. It wasn't passionate or heated, it was sweet and gentle, but it showed all his emotions about her. _About her._ Her eyes were wide with shock, her body stiff and rigid; somehow, she found the energy to respond back. It was just a gentle push against his lips, but Draco knew, she had accepted him. He reluctantly pulled away and stared into her dazed eyes.

"You bloody witch." He growled, "Have you even looked at the mirror lately? Seen how beautiful you really are?" he shook her shoulders, shaking her head back and forth. "Have you even noticed just how much the boys stare at you? Ever notice how jealous other girls are of you?"

She shook her head, not trusting her voice. Couldn't really blame her, here she was, just kissed by the boy she had loved for seven years.

"And they called you the smartest witch of our age." He scoffed. "I don't know what possessed me to say _it_ or do _it. _I don't even know the meaning of love. But if thinking about a person every minute and hurting when you know that you can never have her means love. Then," He swallowed, "I love you." He exhaled and inhaled again. "I don't know if you would return my feelings, if you don't, I don't really blame you. Because I will alwa-_oomph._"

Hermione, tired of his blabbering, was the one who crashed her lips to his. It was sweet and gentle, letting him know her feeling about him. _About him._

"The feeling's mutual." She said, flushing a lovely shade of red. "I love you, too."

After hearing her confession, Draco did a very un-Malfoyish thing that surprised both of them. It made the moon glow brighter. It made Crookshanks purr. It made Hermione blush darker and her heart flutter faster.

He _beamed. _Giving a big, feral grin that reached to his ears. "Hermione, now that you're mine." He growled, "I will not hesitate in ripping off any other male's dick off if they make a move on you."

Hermione giggled, "And if I see any girls trying to make a move on you, I will not hesitate in ripping their hair off their scalp, making them scream bloody murder."

"That's a sight I would not miss for anything in the world, well, maybe Potty and Weasel King making out."

"Draco! They're not gay!"

"Then tell me why they always hug and sneak sideway glances at each other!"

"They do not!"

"And why do they give seductive grins to each other?"

"What?! You're being paranoid!"

"You're being oblivious!"

"And I think Potty is bisexual and…"

And on and on they went, still bickering when they walked out of the Room of Requirement, still bickering when Draco walked Hermione to her room, still bickering before he gave her a goodnight kiss. After leaving Hermione, he strolled to his room, humming softly to himself. His heart light and fluttering, his eyes bright and wide, a grin stretching his lips. That night, he snuggled under his comforter, dreaming disturbing things concerning a certain brunette and a broom closet he had seen near the Slytherin dungeons.

The next morning, the new couples announced their relationship by walking to across the Great Hall with their hands entwined. Ron choked on his pumpkin juice. Ginny squealed with delight. Harry paled and popped his knuckles. Snape fainted. Yes, _Professor Severus Snape FAINTED. _Unfortunately, he was sipping onion soup, so when he fainted, his face went _splat _into his bowl. McGonagall had to fish poor Snape's face outta his hot bowl of soup to prevent him from drowning. It would have been a strange death, imagine the headline on the Daily Prophet: _Severus Snape dies from drowning in onion soup._ Let's just say everyone had a big shock. Twas a funny morning.

And it's all thanks to one Hermione Jean Granger, a skilled violinist, brightest witch of her age, bookworm, and _the phantom of the night._


End file.
